January 6, 2013 - Happy Birthday, Joan of Arc

There
have been plays and poems and books written about her; her story has
been told in film, on television, and through video games; she has
inspired paintings and operas and songs and even a modern-day TV show
called “Joan of Arcadia.”

She
is a folk hero and a saint.

Amazing
stuff for an illiterate peasant girl who was born in 1412 and killed
when she was just 19 years old!

Joan
of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) was a French girl who thought she got a
message from God that she should support Charles VII and fight for
France against England late in the Hundred Years' War. She became a
soldier and helped lift the siege of Orleans in just nine days.
Because people were impressed by Joan's spirit and courage—and
perhaps because they were convinced she had a special line to God,
after her success at Orleans—Joan's advice was followed throughout
several more battles. This untrained, inexperienced girl planned bold
attacks that went against the previous cautious, “smart” moves by
the French army—and her boldness succeeded where the earlier
caution had failed.

The
French army had several quick victories. They were able to negotiate
a truce with England and with its French allies, the Burgundians, and
Charles VII was crowned King of France.

Joan
urged that the French army capitalize on its victories and quickly
move on to Paris to free it from English/Burgundian rule, but Charles
and others in the court preferred to keep the truce. However, the
Duke of Burgundy broke his side of the truce after using it as a
stalling technique while he strengthened his defenses of Paris.

Joan
was captured by the Burgundians. She made several escape attempts,
including jumping down from her 70-foot-high tower—but she failed
to escape her enemies. Eventually she faced a trial and execution for
heresy—in other words, she was found guilty of not having what her
enemies said were the correct views on religion!

By
the way, Joan was apparently very intelligent. Her answers at her
trial, according to court transcripts, were sophisticated and
well-thought-out—so brilliant, in fact, that 20th-Century
playwright George Bernard Shaw judged it couldn't be improved upon in
his play and just copied parts of the court record.

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This site is designed to be a source of interesting articles for kids and a resource for teachers and parents (especially homeschool teacher/parents!). From world holidays to historical anniversaries, Every Day Is Special celebrates each and every day.